Deepak Paygude is MNS city unit choice

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena city unit is going to push Deepak Paygude's name as the party's candidate for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency before MNS chief Raj Thackeray who will be in the city on Monday.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) city unit is going to push Deepak Paygude’s name as the party’s candidate for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency before MNS chief Raj Thackeray who will be in the city on Monday. The party workers have sent a strong signal to Thackeray that they are averse to the candidature of Anil Shidore,whose name has been doing the rounds for the last few days.

Even as other parties including the BJP,Congress and BSP have started preparations for the polls,MNS was very quiet on its front. Two days back,the name of Anil Shidore who is chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Academy came up as MNS candidate for Pune Lok Sabha seat,as Congress and BJP are trying to field Brahmin candidates from Pune in the backdrop of BSP declaring D S Kulkarni as their candidate from Pune.

However,the party workers are not happy as they feel Shidore will be an “imposed” candidate. “We want someone who knows the constituency and whose name is known to common people. Deepak Paygude is a senior leader and he knows the constituency very well. We will be pushing for his name before Thackeray,” said a senior office bearer of city unit. The party workers have already started SMS campaign to push for Paygude’s candidature. The SMS has also reached Raj Thackeray and according to insiders; Thackeray will be in the city as he has sensed the unrest in the city unit. When contacted,city spokesperson Prakash Dhamdhere confirmed that Thackeray would be in the city on Monday but refused to divulge any details. Even as party workers are pushing Deepak Paygude’s name as a candidate for Pune seat,insiders say Paygude however has not shown any interest.